Kingfisher employee group says talks ended in failure

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd's efforts to resolve a labour dispute were dealt yet another blow after a group of employees said negotiations in Delhi had "ended in failure"...

NEW DELHI: Kingfisher Airlines Ltd's efforts to resolve a labour dispute were dealt yet another blow after a group of employees said negotiations in Delhi had "ended in failure" because the Indian airline did not commit to paying overdue salaries.

Kingfisher, once India's second-largest airline, is more than half a year behind on salary payments and has grounded its fleet since Monday after a protest by engineers over the weekend turned violent. Talks with employees in Mumbai on Wednesday ended in a stalemate.

"Employees demanded payment of long pending salary (seven months) prior to resuming operations. All employees expressed their keenness to resume work provided their dues are cleared expeditiously," the group of unidentified employees in Delhi said in a statement on Thursday.